Lane Kiffin's decision is in: Ole Miss coach leaving team before CFP for LSU, blames AD for early exit

Lane Kiffin, the top candidate of the 2025 college football coaching carousel, has decided to leave Ole Miss for LSU and will not coach in the College Football Playoff, he announced Sunday after a days-long saga. 

"After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU," Kiffin said on social media. 

Kiffin leaves Ole Miss after six seasons and a 55-19 record. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding will be named the school's new coach, sources told CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, as the Rebels look to prevent a massive exodus with the school's first CFP appearance on the horizon. 247Sports' Neal McCready reports Ole Miss is looking to double the pay of its offensive coaches to keep them on staff. 

Kiffin released a statement around 2 p.m. local time Sunday laying the blame for his early exit at the feet of athletics director Keith Carter.

I was hoping to complete a historic six season run with this year's team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team's incredible success and their commitment to finish strong, and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern. My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance. 

Unfortunately, that means Friday's Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels.

While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss and will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford.

A decision was expected on Saturday by Kiffin after he met with athletic director Keith Carter and university administration, but both parties left the meeting without a public resolution. A team meeting was called at 9 a.m. local time on Sunday but was later pushed to 1 p.m. as the football world scrambled to fill in the blanks of Kiffin's decision and Ole Miss' next move. 

One of the highest-profile coaches in college football since joining the Rebels in 2020, Kiffin led the program to four 10-win seasons and three finishes of No. 11 or better in the AP Top 25. His tenure marked the most successful period at Ole Miss since integration. 

However, at LSU, Kiffin has the chance to elevate his resume. Three of the last four coaches in Baton Rouge have won national titles, which have been elusive to Kiffin. Additionally, Brian Kelly won an SEC West division championship in 2022 before the league moved to a divisionless format. 

"I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to lead the storied LSU Football program," Kiffin said in an LSU statement. "From national championships to iconic players, LSU is synonymous with excellence and is among the most powerful brands in all of sports. I'm grateful to President Rousse, Verge Ausberry and LSU's leadership for placing their faith in me to lead this program. Our staff will recruit the very best student-athletes in the country – starting at home in the state of Louisiana -- and will work tirelessly every day to bring championships that the LSU fans deserve. Geaux Tigers!"

Kelly was fired in only his fourth season after the program invested heavily in his roster. The Tigers limped out to a 5-3 start, including a 49-25 decimation at the hands of Texas A&M. Kiffin defeated Kelly 24-19 in what appeared to be a marquee matchup in Oxford, Mississippi, but the Tigers ultimately fell from No. 4 to unranked. 

While Kiffin is one of the most well-traveled coaches in college football, he has never coached in the state of Louisiana. However, he worked under former Tigers coach Nick Saban at Alabama, as well as Pete Carroll at LSU. Kiffin has previous stints as head coach at Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13) and with the Oakland Raiders (2007-08). 

"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Kiffin as the next head coach of the LSU Football program," LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry said. "We shared when we began this search that LSU would secure the best coach in the country and Lane Kiffin is just that. Lane is a proven winner who has thrived in an era of college athletics that requires coaches to adapt and innovate. His passion, creativity and authenticity make him the ideal leader to guide LSU into the future and consistently position us among the sport's elite. I want to welcome Lane and his family to Baton Rouge, and I'd like to thank our search committee, as well as our university and state leadership, for their critical support and counsel throughout this process."

At LSU, Kiffin is tasked with bringing the Tigers back to national contention. The program has not won a national championship or SEC championship since firing coach Ed Orgeron after the 2020 season. 

What's next for Ole Miss?

The timing of Kiffin's decision really couldn't be worse for the Rebels, who secured the program's first College Football Playoff appearance on Friday after a 38-19 win over rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. 

Carter will hope to keep the current formula intact with the 41-year-old Golding, who got his first big break as the defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach at UTSA and parlayed that into an opportunity as defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2018-22, where he coached under Nick Saban. 

Golding left for Ole Miss in January 2023. In August, Ole Miss made Golding the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the SEC with a three-year contract extension worth around $2.61 million annually. 

How does leaving now affect Kiffin's legacy?

On one hand, Ole Miss fans should be thankful for Kiffin's time in Oxford. He's delivered some of the greatest seasons in program history and singlehandedly improved the Rebels' SEC outlook. To even have Ole Miss in the conversation as a consistent national contender in the modern era is a testament to Kiffin's efforts. 

Ole Miss fans also have every right to be outraged. A coach abandoning a school for a perceived better opportunity stings, but it isn't unheard of; a coach abandoning a school on the precipice of its first College Football Playoff run is unprecedented, however, and it smacks of betrayal. 

It's reminiscent of the time, just under 16 years ago, when Kiffin suddenly left Tennessee in the cold after one season with the Vols to replace Pete Carroll at USC. Kiffin's decision precipitated Tennessee's fall into a decade of irrelevancy. 

There's no telling if the same thing will happen at Ole Miss, but this move is arguably worse from the onset. Kiffin gave the Rebels six seasons, the longest he's ever stayed in one place as a coach. He took the program to heights it hasn't seen since Johnny Vaught was patrolling the sidelines. 

In an era where sustained success is harder than ever, Kiffin more than acclimated -- he thrived and molded Ole Miss into the model of a bought-in program. Now, he could use some of those same tactics to take Ole Miss' stars with him to Baton Rouge, which would plunge the dagger even further. 

The offseason campaign pointing towards Kiffin's growth -- professionally, at least -- rings hollow. It's fair to question whether he's motivated by anything except the almighty dollar, since winning and resources obviously weren't issues at Ole Miss. 

What will Kiffin inherit at LSU?

Kiffin is inheriting an LSU roster that could look a lot different next year. The Tigers went all-in on building a roster meant to compete for championships in the offseason, which meant adding a lot of veterans via the transfer portal while investing significant capital into retaining top talent. 

LSU has 18 seniors or draft-eligible juniors/redshirt sophomores listed atop its depth chart. That includes standout names like quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, cornerback Mansoor Delane and safety A.J. Haulcy. Maybe Kiffin can convince a few of LSU's impact players with eligibility to come back, but there's still going to be plenty of turnover. 

Not that that's necessarily a problem for Kiffin, who touts the well-earned moniker of "Portal King." Flipping rosters isn't anything new to him; Kiffin leaned heavily on the transfer portal to inject Ole Miss' roster with talent on a yearly basis. 

The Rebels landed a top-five transfer class in every cycle between 2022 -- when 247Sports started ranking transfer hauls -- and 2025. Expect much of the same at a place like LSU, which hasn't shied away from talent acquisition in recent years.